Category: Rules, Statutes, & Laws
-
Private Utility Locating: What Homeowners Need to Know
Once you’ve called 811 or filed a locate request ticket online for your excavation, it might seem like there’s nothing left to do but wait for a positive response from facility operators. But many first-time homeowner excavators don’t know that filing a locate request with Gopher State One Call is just the first part of…
-
Winter Locating 101
Michael Jensen began his career as a contract locator in 2009 and has spent the past three years as an engineering service tech at City of Austin Utilities. That’s more than a decade’s worth of Minnesota winters spent trudging through slush, snow and harsh temperatures to help prevent damages and keep the public safe. As…
-
From the MN Dept. of Pipeline Safety: White Marking is Required by Law
Now that warmer weather has arrived, the 2020 excavation season is well underway. With that comes a rising increase in Gopher State One-Call locate requests. While excavators rely on the timely response and accurate locates by the utility operators, it’s just as important for excavators to do their part in order to perform their work…
-
Meet vs. Normal Tickets: What You Need to Know for 2019
The safe excavation process starts by calling Gopher State One Call (GSOC) and filing one of two types of tickets: a normal ticket or a meet ticket. The normal ticket is recommended for homeowners or one-time excavation projects that only need a 48-hour notice (excluding weekends and holidays). Your ticket remains valid 14 calendar days…
-
I’ve Damaged a Utility Line. Now What?
MN State Statue 216D defines “damage” as any impact to an underground facility. MN law requires that if damage occurs to an underground facility or its protective coating, the excavator shall promptly notify the affected facility operator. Only the facility operator is qualified to determine if damage requiring repair has in fact occurred. Excavators are…
-
GSOC Meet Tickets
What is a meet ticket and when should you file one with Gopher State One Call (GSOC)? Excavators can file meet tickets with GSOC to request an on-site meeting with facility operators at the proposed excavation site to clarify the precise location of excavation, schedule locating, propose future contacts, and/or share other information concerning the…
-
Excavation Entities: Defining the Work Area
What is an excavation entity and why should you care? If you’re an ITIC user, creating the excavation entity that identifies your work area is one of the single most important things you do when submitting a ticket. Let’s find out why. An excavation entity is the parcel, circle, route, feature, shapefile, or free-hand/GPS-generated polygon…
-
What is Vacuum Excavation
Vacuum excavation or “soft dig” is a non-mechanical and less invasive method of excavation. A blast of air or water is first directed into the dig site to loosen soil and break up any large materials. It is categorized as air or hydro vacuum excavation depending on how the soil is broken down. An air…
-
MS216D Stakeholder Review Status
The fourth MS216D stakeholder review meeting was held on August 22nd, 2017 at the Minnesota Department of Transportation facility in St. Cloud, MN. Subgroups continued ongoing discussions of the following topics: Definition of Excavation 48-hour Notification Boundary Surveys Proposed language changes have been developed for some of these topics and were shared at the latest…
-
Why Are There Flags And Paint In My Yard?
Updated: Wednesday, March 26, 2025 At some point in time, either in your yard or around town, you’ve probably noticed small colored flags and spray paint marking the ground. The flags and paint mark are used to mark where underground utilities are located and are most often used when someone is planning to dig. Getting…